The Mark of Athena: Perhaps it Happened Like This?
by MerlionMaple
Summary: What will Jason and Leo think about the prophecy? What exactly does it entail? Find out in this chapter... P.S. I know you guys are busy but it would be awesome if you could drop me a review, after all as much as I love writing, a major part of why I write is for you guys. So Show some Love! Anyways, This is my version of the "Mark of Athena"
1. Prologue

My take on the third installment of the book. ENJOY! Oh! And don't forget to review!

* * *

**The Mark of Athena**

Prologue 

**Reyna**

Reyna knew she had taken a risk. Oh, and what a big risk it had been. The truth was, no one could have been absolutely sure what the ship would bring. An ally? A foe? She wasn't even sure that Percy was certain. That being said, if Reyna was sure of anything, it was that if something were to go wrong, she would be in some real hot water. After all as Praetor she was responsible for the camp's safety. Yet, even her own potential downfall didn't faze her as much as Octavian's would be accent if things happened to go south. Oh, how she detested that Octavian. He may have looked like every bullies dream come true but she knew he was not your everyday skinny guy that lived down the block. She knew that he was much, much more powerful. After all, this was a guy who gutted stuffed toys in his spare time. Jokes aside though, Reyna knew that Octavian craved nothing more than power. She realised that he was always on the lookout for any opportunity to usurp Reyna and gain control of the camp. More than anything though, she knew that she was granting him a premier opportunity to do just that by allowing this ship to enter the camp. Why did she do it then? She seemed to have enough on her plate already without the added problem of these Greeks. Throw in Octavian and she knew she was brewing a recipe for disaster. Yet, the truth was that there was a possibility that there was something on that ship that Reyna really wanted. Something that had been missing for the past eight months, something that might be able to help her and everyone else make sense of what had been going on. Actually, it was a someone. In fact, his name was Jason...

**Jason**

As he peered over the edge of the ship, Jason felt safe. The familiar landmarks and figures that dotted the rolling landscape below him reminded him of better times; happier memories. The only times when he had truly felt safe were all in one way or another associated with this place. In truth, he couldn't believe his eyes. It had been _eight_ months, _eight long _months since he had last been here; his true home. He could feel it, this was where he belonged. He felt as if his entire essence; his entire being was being drawn towards what lay below him. The anticipation itself was enough to set his heart pounding and his blood racing. He just could not wrap his mind around it. Sure, the last eight months hadn't exactly been the worst of his life, after all he had avoided becoming dinner to a various assortment of monsters _and_ made some awesome new friends while he was it, but he was never really at ease during that time. He was always on edge, as if he were trespassing on private property. There was just no way around it, he was Roman. Every cell in his body could attest to that fact. Everything about the two was different, their combat tactics, fighting styles; the way they spoke, the way they acted. They were like two sides of the same coin. They couldn't have been more different yet were fundamentally one and the same. Jason though, of all people, couldn't afford to think like that. He knew that in order to defeat Gaea the Romans and the Greeks needed to set aside their differences and work together.

Yet there was still something that bothered Jason; just this lingering feeling at the pit of his stomach that didn't quite seem right. Something just didn't add up, something wasn't clicking into place. Now if only he knew what... "Hey Jason! You alright?" yelled Leo, with a concerned look on his face. Jason had been so lost in thought that he hadn't realised that he had started to lean dangerously close to the edge of the ship. Startled, he tripped over himself and would have fallen overboard if Leo hadn't grabbed his arm and steadied him. "Dude! I'm not gonna be around to save your life forever. You gotta be more careful man, I know you can fly and all but there's no need to be showing off all the time," chided Leo. "Hmph," Jason just smirked and nodded his head as he tried to conceal a smile. " By the way Superman, we gonna be landing soon so you better be ready," Leo remarked as he headed back into the control room of the ship. Jason just sighed wistfully and continued to gaze at what lay below him, trying not to get too caught up in his thoughts.

**Percy**

Percy had never seen anything more majestic. The Argo 2 was unlike anything he could have even imagined. Watching it as it approached the camp was like watching a movie in slow-motion. It was both captivating yet oddly disturbing; after all the ship was defying gravity in more ways than one. Firstly there was no way in olympus that something that huge or heavy should have been able to fly. The beast was big enough to have put the titanic to shame. Second, it was going much faster than anything its size should have been able to go, but then again, flying ships were not an everyday occurrence. Finally though, and strangest of all, it didn't seem to be slowing down at all, odd considering it was already on the outskirts of the city and would soon reach the forum. "Bah! I'm just being paranoid," thought Percy to himself. After all, that Leo guy probably knew a lot more about the ship's capabilities than he did. On that note, Percy just couldn't wait to meet Leo, he seemed quite the character. Of course, he was just aching to see all his friends again, especially Annabeth. Oh, that Annabeth, just the thought of her filled him with warmth. Yet, there was someone else Percy was really keen on meeting; the ever-mysterious Jason. As best he could figure, he was something of a god around these parts. Everyone held him in high regard, even Reyna, which was really saying something about the guy.

Percy was distracted from his thoughts by some rather loud mummers from the campers around him. As he looked up he noticed quite a few of them pointing at the ship and gesturing with concern on their faces. Percy directed his attention back on the ship and didn't notice anything out of place. "Great, now the whole camp is paranoid!" he joked to himself. He was about to dismiss the weird reactions as nothing more than the shock of seeing a flying ship, when he heard a someone yell, "By gods, it's smoking!" As he looked around to find the source of the commotion, Percy saw one of the legionnaires waving frantically at the ship. Immediately, he turned his gaze back on the Argo 2. He could just make out a trail jet black smoke rising out of the ship's hull. It didn't take much time for Percy to put two and two together. The smoke; the fact that the ship wasn't slowing down; something was seriously wrong. Perhaps the engine had blown, decided Percy, rather calmly. Then the facts hit him in the face. If it was a damaged engine, the ship would surely crash. Looking up again, Percy was taken aback. The ship looked a lot worse, it was now nearly a blur through the increasing cloud of smoke. Percy could barely make out the figure of the ship that now seemed to be pointing downwards. In fact, it seemed to be headed right at him and everybody else. Just then, the screaming began. People began to realise that if they didn't move they would end up flattened by this monstrous entity. Then, all hell broke loose...

* * *

All your thoughts in terms of reviews are appreciated! Any good, bad, crazy and even ugly feedback is more than welcome... Tune in next chapter to find out what happens to the Argo II...


	2. Chapter 1

My take on the Mark of Athena. Enjoy! Oh! And Don't forget to review...

* * *

**The Mark of Athena **

Chapter 1

**Leo**

Leo had been having a great day. He had gotten to sleep in, the tacos that he had eaten for lunch had been supremely awesome and he could have sworn that the cute chick from the Apollo cabin had been totally checking him out. In truth, Leo had never felt better in his life. The past six months had been the best of his life since his mother's death. Everyone at camp Half-Blood had made him feel so welcome. In fact, he hadn't even been bullied by the Ares cabin. For once in his life, Leo really felt as if he belonged, and it showed too. He had finally been able to come out of his shell over the past few months. His confidence had improved, he had become calmer and in short just...more of himself. He no longer felt it necessary to hide behind the false veil that he had created in the past. He was with people that really liked him for who he was now, and that was all that mattered.

Leo figured that the big turnaround was partly due his quest. After all, kicking Giant butt with Jason and Piper would have done wonders to anyone's self-belief. Plus, the last few months had been chalk full campers going "Leo how can I help you?", "Leo, did I fix that on right?" and "Leo you're so cute" that he had almost began to regret spearheading the Argo 2's construction. Okay, perhaps there weren't any adoring girls. He was still having a bit of trouble in that department. At least Jason and Piper were hitting it off though. As far as everyone at Camp were concerned they were officially a couple, although Leo sometimes thought that Jason was a bit reserved. Maybe he was holding back something from his past...

Anyways, for one reason or another, Leo had changed for the better. Yup, Leo was now the man. He was the _CAPTAIN_, literally. He and his ship, the Argo 2 had now been sailing for the better part of a week. On board were about thirty to forty demigods, all of whom had volunteered to come along. None of them had any clue as to what the condition of the Roman Camp was in. For all they knew, the camp could have been destroyed by now. Or perhaps, they had already defeated the Giant's army and were sipping lemonade in the sunshine, although Leo seriously doubted that that had occurred. More likely, the Romans were still fighting their enemies and Leo was pretty sure that they would need some help. Just the thought of a battle though, sent a shiver down Leo's spine. Yet, Leo knew that he had a secret weapon that could potentially turn the tide in his ally's favor.

Unsurprisingly, The Argo 2 definitely qualified under secret weapon category. Armed to the teeth with Olympus grade weaponry, it was a mean, not so lean, fighting machine. It probably could have given Ares' war chariot a run for its money, _if_ there was an award for the number of different ways in which it could kill you. Even defensively, it was a mammoth; its heavily armored hull were fire proof, acid proof and virtually monster proof. At least, that's what Leo liked to believe, the Argo 2 hadn't actually been battle tested though. That being said, Leo believed that he had really outdone himself this time. As far as he was concerned, the Argo 2 was a real diamond in the rough. "Just like me," thought Leo to himself, smirking.

Surprisingly enough it had been smooth sailing all the way from Long Island. No monsters, no giants, no Gaea, no nothing; Best Leo could figure, either the Gods were looking out for them or they had been supremely lucky. He was banking on the latter, after all, he had garnered enough information to know that Zeus wasn't exactly in demigod helping mood. Yet Leo should have known better. His luck had never lasted this long before and rather unsettlingly, it wasn't to last much longer. Nope, Leo just wasn't fated to be lucky. Something always went wrong and this time was no exception. Only this time it would go very, very wrong.

* * *

What exactly's going to go wrong? An can Leo stop it? Find out next Chapter. Oh! And All good, bad and even ugly reviews are more than welcome...


	3. Chapter 2 Crashdown

My take on the Mark of Athena. Enjoy! Oh! And Don't forget to review...

* * *

**The Mark of Athena**

Chapter 2

**Leo**

As Leo glanced down at his control panel, his initial reaction was one of surprise. However, this soon turned to confusion. The readings he was getting just weren't adding up. His altitude meter was dropping at an alarming rate while his pressure indicator was doing much the same. "Hmm, that's odd," thought Leo, silently trying to figure out the cause. "If those readings are accurate then it would seem that we're falling," concluded Leo. Now the problem about being on a ship, is that you cannot possibly judge if you are in motion without looking out at your surroundings. Leo also faced this problem, which was why he had no idea that his ship was falling until he had taken a look at his reading instruments. Unfortunately, Leo still had two major problems facing him; _what_ exactly was causing the problem and _how_ exactly was he going to stop it. While pondering this mind bender-of sorts Leo decided to switch on the stabilizers he had built into the ship. At least they would control the falling of the ship till Leo could figure out how to deal with this situation. They were still on the outskirts of the Roman camp and if Leo really needed to, he quite possibly could make an emergency landing.

After a few seconds of a little analysing and a lot of guesswork, the truth dawned on him. "Of course! There must be something wrong with the engine!" exclaimed Leo, as he slapped his forehead in disbelief. Yet, for the second time that day Leo was thrown into a state of confusion. There just couldn't possibly be anything wrong with the engine. It was a Hephaestus 750X, the latest, greatest thing on the Olympus market. It had been a gift from his father himself. Something of that quality just didn't fail, _unless_ some higher power was intentionally messing with them. _Or_, his father had given him a faulty product; which Leo didn't put past him. Either way, Leo decided he had better page Darius, his half-brother, who was stationed in the engine room. He hurried over to his control panel and pushed a large unassuming button labeled "CONFERENCE" and selected the appropriate room.

"Darius, you in there?" yelled Leo, a little too loud. He heard some clattering and crashing as a deep voice came over on the other side, "Uhh, Yeah Leo. I'm here". Darius was relatively new, he had only came to camp a few months ago. He was a nice guy, but Leo thought he was rather clumsy for a child of Hephaestus. "Darius, can you check the engine, I'm gettin' some weird readings down here". "Yeah... About that Leo, the engine has kinda been sputtering for the past couple of minutes," replied Darius rather afraid. "What! And you didn't bother telling me?" yelled Leo, although he wasn't really angry. "Sorry Leo, at first I didn't think it was a big deal but right now... It's looking real bad. I think it may be dying," responded Darius. "It's alright, just power up the back-up engine.". "Alright man," said Darius before Leo heard more crashing sounds. Leo winced but inside he was relieved. He had to admit, the Athena cabin had the right idea when they made him ensure he had replacements for nearly everything on the ship. He made a mental note to thank Annabeth for being a potential lifesaver the next time he saw her.

As he did this, Darius came back on line, "Uhh, Leo. Bad news, man. The engine isn't starting," said Darius, tense this time. "What! Are you sure," yelled Leo, surprised. "Yeah man, I'm sure. I just tried it again; it isn't starting up.". It was like someone had dropped a bombshell at Leo's party. Now, things really weren't adding up. Leo had designed that back-up himself. Sure, it wasn't Olympus grade engineering, but it sure was Leo grade. And if Leo was sure of anything, Leo grade was at the very least, reliable. He sighed to himself as he realised he may have to make an emergency landing. He decided to give it one last try though and go down to the engine to take a look. Perhaps some coaxing from the man himself would do the trick. He doubted it, but he of all people knew that anything was possible. However, as he turned towards the door to leave, he saw something more shocking than anything he had witnessed that day. Nothing could have ever prepared him for the following few minutes of his life. In fact, what he saw made him feel like he had been turned upside down, spun around put on a roller coaster.

What Leo had seen was a glimpse out of the ship. The glimpse was one of pure senselessness. He saw the sky, the clouds and everything else race past him and the ship at startling speed. He saw the ship pointed towards the ground at an angle as if it were a sled sliding down a snowy hillside. At first he thought that maybe those tacos he had had for lunch may have been made in the 1960's. He just didn't understand, he definitely had switched on the stabilizers. He had even checked to ensure. Wouldn't it just have been his luck though, if they had failed too. However, it was the speed that really got to Leo. The ship just should not have been able to move that fast, even in free fall. It was as if someone had grabbed the ship and thrown it towards the ground as hard as possible. His mind was a blur of thoughts; he had thousands of questions racing through it. He knew that he just had to deal with them later though. After all, he had bigger problems to deal with right now. Much bigger problems. In fact, the ship was hurtling towards the ground, headed right for the Roman Camp. He roughly estimated that he had about thirty seconds to save it. Yup, Leo had thirty seconds to stop a ship with no engine that was going at an intangible speed from crashing a demigod camp and possibly killing him and his friends. He was almost resigned to tell himself, "Yeah right, good luck with that!" but he knew better, he knew he had to try.

Leo ran through the blueprint of the ship, which by now was virtually imprinted on the inside of his head. He tried desperately to find anything that would help him out but time was definitely not on his side. It just kept ticking and ticking; ticking towards his doom. Twenty five seconds, twenty seconds; he started hearing screams from within the ship. The campers had probably started to realise that they were crashing. Still, Leo forced himself to concentrate. The fate of hundreds were in his hand. If only this were a real ship and he could just throw in an anchor and stop it, then again, real ships wouldn't be crash landing. That was it! Leo had just gotten a brainwave; an idea that just might save them all. When had built this ship he had a vague idea that it should mirror the original Argo to an extent. He also realised the necessity for an anchor like object, in case they ever needed to hook themselves to a tower or maybe a floating palace, like the one they had visited on his quest. Which is why, Leo had put in grappling hooks. Yup, brilliant Leo had installed grappling hooks. And now, it might just save them.

He didn't have much time but even so a plan formulated in his mind. If he could fire a few grappling hooks and hook them to stable objects, they might be able to suspend themselves midair. The only thing that Leo could compare it to was a bungee jumper. Instead of hooking a bungee jumper to a single tower, if you hooked him to multiple towers and then substituted him for a flying ship...you would get a pretty good picture of what Leo was trying to do. Sure, it was a longshot but he didn't have much of a choice. Leo was wildly aware of the minimal time he had left, but he still needed to find suitable targets. As he scanned the area he spotted a high siege tower. It wouldn't have been his first choice, but then again, captaining a free-falling flying ship wouldn't have been his first choice either.

As he found a nook in the tower to aim the grappling hook for, Leo offered up a quick prayer to his father as well as any other God that he could think of off the top of his head. He needed to get this first hook perfect, if not, it would be "good bye Leo," followed shortly by "welcome to the underworld.". He fired the first hook as he smirked at the thought. It was like his life had started moving in "slow-mo". He could sense the time ebbing away as the hook traveled towards the spot in the grating that Leo had aimed for. He next feeling was pure joy as he saw, no _felt_, the hook connect. Upon contact, the ship lurched backwards violently, like a horse that had been reined in. Leo heard more screams, louder and more urgent than before. In the back of his head he wondered why nobody had come to check on him. "Probably too busy worrying about their own demise!" thought Leo, glad his inane sense of humor hadn't deserted him in this most vulnerable state.

Some other part in back of his mind, not the part responsible for his comic quality, was anticipating the time till touchdown. Perhaps in this case however, crashdown may have been the more appropriate term. In truth, he couldn't have had more than ten seconds till contact; give or take a few seconds. Although, a few extra seconds could save his life, _or_ kill him. Even as he was preparing to fire the next grappling hook, he felt the ship tipping backwards due to its imbalance. He needed at least one more hook to ensure that the ship wouldn't tip over. He had already analyzed the viable options and found that his best bet was a building that looked like a giant indoor playpark. Leo could only wonder what it was used for. He programmed the grappling hook canon to fire at his target and was about pull the trigger when he felt an odd sensation down his spine. He shrugged it off and fired anyway. Surprisingly, what should have seemed like ages went past in a whir. Almost as if the grappling hook had been helped along. Either way, the hook hit the sweet spot and hung on. Immediately, the ship righted itself with yet another violent lurch, causing an unsuspecting Leo to stumble forward and hit his head flat on the edge of a table. He hoped that he had done enough but even if he hadn't, he couldn't do much more. He had managed to knock himself out cold. Yet there was enough time for a voice to speak in his head, "_Good job young demigod. You have saved your friends. You have made me proud. Soon you will have united the two camps. You can rest now young demigod, but soon you will be tested again. And when that happens you must remain strong...". _And with that, Leo blacked out

* * *

Hope you guys liked the chapter! Next Chapter we have the Percy-Annabeth Reunion! Don't miss it and like always any good, bad and even ugly comments are more than welcome...


	4. Chapter 3 The Reunion

Alright Guys It's the Percabeth Reunion! Enjoy, and don't forget to review!

* * *

Annabeth awoke in a dimly lit room. She seemed to be lying on something that closely resembled a hospital bed. She felt like she had been run over by a herd of centaurs and then made to ride on an intense merry-go-round. In other words, she did not feel good. The last thing she could remember was climbing down from her top bunk on the Argo 2. She remembered the ship jerk violently and, in response, her foot slip from the top rung of the ladder. She remembered falling and desperately trying to stop her fall with her arm. She remembered feeling all her body weight come to focus on her arm as she hit the floor. She remembered that awful sound of bone cracking, followed by a sharp pain shoot through her arm. The last memory she had was that of her vision blurring and urgent screams somewhere in the background. She could only guess that she had blacked out at that point; the pain too great for her body to bear.

As to her whereabouts now, Annabeth was unsure. This, surely was no place on the ship. After all, she had had a a major hand in the construction of the Argo 2 and was almost as well acquainted with it as Leo. Besides, Annabeth was certain that the ship must have landed hours ago. From whatever little light that came through the room's sole window she discerned the time of day to be either dusk or dawn. However, she did not have enough conclusive evidence to lean either way. What Annabeth found rather funny though, was the fact that she had no clue as to what day it was. It could be have been any day really, she had absolutely no idea how long she had been out cold. She _was_ rather adamant, that she couldn't possibly have been out for longer than a day. That being said, she _had _seen crazier things happen. A _lot _crazier.

Either way, she decided that presently, she was probably at the Roman Camp. It seemed to be the only possibility. But where was everyone else? She sighed as she tried to raise herself to a sitting position in order to get a better look at her surroundings. As she did so however, a sharp pain shot through her arm, and before she could help herself, a soft cry escaped her lips. As this occurred, she heard a high voice nearby, "Oh you're awake!". Startled by this Annabeth nearly let out another cry but she managed to stop herself and instead throated our a dry "Yes" accompanied by a slight nod of her head. The girl, and Annabeth had assumed it was a girl from the voice, took a step forward but Annabeth still had to strain her neck to get a glimpse of her. She looked young, at least younger than Annabeth, maybe thirteen or fourteen. She had dark skin, flowing curly brown hair and was wearing a purple t-shirt and skinny jeans. Annabeth tried to make out what the shirt said but it was too dim and her dyslexia wasn't helping. What was actually "Camp Jupiter" seemed like "Amp CJ Rupert", and Annabeth rather had trouble deciding if that was gibberish.

"Hmm, you don't look too good, do you want me to go fetch a healer," asked the girl as Annabeth decided that "Amp CJ Rupert" really might mean something. Realizing she had been asked a question, Annabeth quickly nodded a "No" in response. The girl looked a little unsure but soon steadied herself and held out her hand gesturing for a handshake, "Hi, I'm Hazel Lavesque, daughter of Pluto. Nice to meet you". She had a big goofy grin on her face and Annabeth was unsure whether she should be glad for the friendly attitude or apprehensive instead. She decided on the former and attempted to raise her left hand to meet Hazel's. However, the action ended up looking rather odd and unsightly, almost as if Annabeth was shaking hands with Hitler and couldn't decide if she should be honoured or if she should just punch him in the nose. Therefore, it came as no surprise to Annabeth that Hazel looked a little taken aback. What did come as a surprise however, was what Hazel did next. In one swift movement, she embraced Annabeth in a warm hug, "Oh, it's so nice to finally meet you! Percy's told me so much about you guys and the adventures you've had. You should just hear Percy, he goes on and on about you. Oh, he's is going to be so thrilled to see you awake!".

Annabeth, still rather surprised, mustured up enough strength to say, "Oh", which sounded a bit out of place. Sure, Hazel was just trying to be friendly, but Annabeth still didn't understand what was going on. She had gaps in her memory she needed to fill; a thousand questions that needed asking and she was moved to question Hazel. By now Hazel had ended the hug and was seated next to Annabeth in a plain white chair. Annabeth, for once that day, decided to start the conversation. "So Hazel, what's going on exactly, where is everyone?" questioned Annabeth. "Well I suppose you don't know that your flying ship almost crashed huh!". "_What! Our ship almost crashed! When did that happen?"_ thought Annabeth to herself as Hazel pressed on.

She went on to explain that the Greek Ship had been close to crashing the Roman Camp when it suddenly fired out two "Hooks" that clung to some of their buildings and served as a balancing point for the ship. She also went on to tell her that after that, ladders were released from the ship and demigods started pouring out. At first, the Romans thought that they were under attack, but the fearful screams of the Greeks had showed them otherwise. After the initial "hoo-haa" of the incident, the stragglers had been rescued and the wounded, tended to. Of course, Annabeth had ended up here where they had put a cast on her arm and fed her some nectar and ambrosia. Not much had been done otherwise as far as diplomatics were concerned. Space had been made for their new visitors at dinner and they had been put up at the guest dorms. Annabeth was pleasantly surprised to learn that Percy had been at her side for the entirety of the time she had been out. That is, up till Hazel had finally managed to convince him to go get some rest with promises to wake him when Annabeth came to.

Annabeth had always prided herself at being a good listener and she guessed that her "oohs" and "aahs" had worked effectively. For Hazel didn't stop with the goings-on that day but instead launched into a tale of her quest with Percy and some dude named Frank. She had just started to tell her about the reasons for the undertaking of the quest when she was inturrupted by a visitor at a door. In fact,visitor was a bit of a vague description. See-through Roman General in full battle armor would have been more appropriate. "_Lare, would probably be the scientifica__lly correct term though_" thought Annabeth satisfied with her knowledge of Roman mysticism. Hazel looked on rather nonchlantly at the _Lare_ as she greeted him with a wistful and rather sarcastic salute. Turning back around to face Annabeth, "That's just Augustus, he hangs around here, and loves harassing new recruits.". This sentence rather stupefied Annabeth whom amazed replied, "Wait, Augustus, **the Augustus**one of the most influential Roman Emperors and generals of all time!". "Well I don't know about that..." Hazel trailed off as Trajan butted in, "Keep quiet Hazel, this fine lady obviously knows of my truly heroic exploits. May I enquire as to what is surely a beautiful name, daughter of Minerva?" he asked stepping into the room.

Annabeth was more than surprised, she was absolutely stunned. Not only was Augustus among Ancient Rome's most successful Generals and tacticians but he was right here in the flesh. Well, not exactly in the flesh, but rather in the "ghost", for lack of a better word. Not only that but he had accomplished all that without a single drop of Godly blood in him. He was merely mortal, nothing more nothing less. In other words, he was never a demigod. What probably surprised Annabeth more than anything however was how he looked. He appeared young, perhaps mid twenties, but he had a certain aura about him, something you would have associated with a man full to the brim with confidence. Almost as if he could read her mind he said, "I suppose such an inquisitive mind as yours must wonder as to how I became a _Lare_. After all, I was no demigod. In truth, I had minimal relations with the Gods even whilst I was alive."

"That all changed though, when I died. Upon reaching the Underworld, I was granted Elysium for all my wonderful deeds during my life. Honestly, I myself don't think that I did anything that great." he put rather humbly. Anyways, I was granted Elysium for which I was thrilled about and all, but I soon began to grow tired of the place. Truth be told, the place was rather farcical in my opinion. Everyone was always happy, the skies were always blue and the larks were always singing. The place was just so... 'Unreal'. It was truly nothing like the real world. There just wasn't any _reason_ for my life in Elysium. As a General and eventually an Emperor, I had always felt as if there were a purpose for my existence; to aid the People of Rome. Case and point, I couldn't take it! I needed out and so I decided to go and beg Pluto to give me my life back. Now, Pluto was no stranger to such appeals and so was rather reluctant at first. Alas, even the Gods wear down eventually. After much pestering, he gave me a way back to the real world...this."

"That's where my life as a _lare_ started I suppose. I was sent to the Legion Fulminata where I was appointed as an aide to the residing generals and legionnaires. Back then I was valuable. My tactical mind was still sharp and my input was much appreciated in matters concerning war. Over the centuries however, I've become somewhat of a forgotten figure. Huh! The kids these days treat me like an old prick, rather like an annoying old man who won't quite go away. Hazel, well she's actually not too bad but I suppose even she's had a long couple of days." he sighed as he finished his tale.

Annabeth had been listening intently for the duration of his monologue and she decided that she felt somewhat sorry for him. After all, he seemed somewhat like Chiron to her. Yet there was something that still irked Annabeth about him. Then it hit her, he had somehow known that she was a child of Athena or as he had put it , Minerva her Roman equivalent, without her telling him. Almost like he could read her mind again, "I have my ways Annabeth, I have my ways..." he said patting her on the back. With that he turned to leave the room, pausing at the door only to say, "Clear your thoughts, Daughter of Minerva, you will have company soon.". On that rather odd note, he left the room.

Almost immediately, there came a scuffling sound from somewhere down the hallway, followed by the appearance of the one person Annabeth wanted, no _needed_ to see. It had taken her eight long months of blood, sweat and tears for this moment. To see his face again. Oh, and Percy's face didn't look magnificent, no it didn't look stunning, no it looked, quite frankly, sleepy. He rather stumbled into the room, muttering her name and clumsily falling into the chair. He was wearing attire similar to that of Hazel's.

As he glanced at Annabeth, she thought she saw a look of sheer delight in his eyes. He looked like a guy that had just found the meaning to his existence. Annabeth knew that they had come to the point in their relationship when words were no longer necessary to express their feelings for one another. He merely had to open his arms for her to fall right into them. She buried her face in his chest, grateful for the pounding of his heart; his calm breathing. In this case, the picture really did tell a thousand words. She just had been carrying around so much grief the past eight months; her heart was so heavy and she realised that the load was much too much for her to bear any longer. She didn't know when she had started but she found herself crying; her tears falling towards the ground. She didn't even know if they were tears of happiness or tears or sadness; anguish or hope. She was only aware of Percy's soothing voice, unsure whether he should console her or cry along. They had both been under so much pressure, so much tension, nothing any teenager their age should have had to go through. Everyone has a breaking point and for Annabeth, it had just been reached. Indeed, Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on and hers was Percy.

Annabeth didn't know how long had passed. Minutes, hours, days? She had fallen into a world that only consisted of her own forlorn tears and Percy's occasional attempts at consolation. More intangible time passed. Soon, even those constant reassurances faded away, to be replaced by a rather rhythmic movement of his chest; as it rose and fell. Annabeth was alerted by this rather abrupt change and upon further investigation, realised that he had fallen asleep. "Hmm... Seaweed Brain, some things never do change!" she thought to herself as she laid her hand on his chest and planted a kiss on his lips. She adjusted his body to a more comfortable position and drew back to her bed. She sighed as she gazed wistfully at the rising sun thinking of the warm feeling welling up within her and of better times ahead.

* * *

Hope you guys like this chapter... Tune in next time for Piper and a rather shocking surprise... Oh, and as always all good bad and even ugly reviews are more than welcome...


	5. Chapter 4 Paint it Black

Hey guys, in this chapter I reveal the entire "Daughter of Athena" prophecy... Hope you guys like it... Oh, and don't forget to review...

* * *

Piper awoke shivering uncontrollably, covered in beads of sweat. She had had a rather erratic night's sleep. That is to say, she had spent more of the night trying to fall asleep than actually succeeding in doing so. What little "shut-eye" she had managed to get had been plagued by nightmares involving Gaea, giants and ghoulish clowns to varying degrees. The nightmares were more comatose than prophetic however, and did not make very much sense to Piper. They were merely jumbled up thoughts and ideas; sights and scenes from her past and perhaps even her future. She doubted that even the God of Puzzles could have unraveled her dreams. Then she realised that maybe there was no such god. She made a mental note to ask Annabeth the next time she saw her.

She yawned as she arose from her bed, remembering that Annabeth may well be out of commission for a bit, what with a broken arm and all. She made a second mental note to visit her at some point during the day. As she did so, she could just make out Apollo beginning his journey over the horizon as she stretched out her arms, which were still aching from the night's tossing and turning. As she did so, she noticed something that she hadn't the night before. There were numbers etched into the side of her bed. Quick glances around the room proved to show that the other bed were much the same. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the beds were numbered. Hers was 1029, the one on her left was 1028 and the one to her right was 1030. She felt a disparate sense of deja-vu at the orderliness of the Romans. Their entire camp; their entire philosophy seemed to subscribe to a system that worked solely on organization and discipline. They were like a well-oiled machine which ticked with the precision of a Swiss watch.

Piper couldn't help but notice the irony of it all. Here were the "_High and Mighty"_ Greek demigods ,whom had an impenetrable flying ship, that were coming to save the Romans from the "_Evil Giant Army". _Instead, the Romans had not only fended off the Giant Army single-handedly but _they _had rescued the Greek demigods. She could only stare in awe at the ease with which they had handled the "situation" yesterday. It was like watching a work of art. Truly unfathomable, almost as if they were rescuing Greek battle ships on a daily basis. Piper could only shake her head in disbelief and shame.

But she knew that all that didn't matter. No one had been seriously hurt and that was what did. She herself had come away from the ordeal unscathed. Indeed she had spent much of yesterday helping out at the Hospital, aiding the wounded. For example, she knew for a fact that both Annabeth and Leo had ended up there along with several other campers. Jason on the other hand, had been helping out with the rescue effort. Ensuring that no one had been left behind on the ship. In truth, she wondered where he was now. The last she had seen of him had been at dinner and even then it had only been for a few fleeting moments. He had been a real hot commodity during the time and everyone wanted a piece of him. Not literally of course, but rather, figuratively. The best she could guess, he was worshiped around these parts. It seemed the eight months he had been missing came as a huge blow to the camp. _She,_on the other hand had spent dinner wedged between a rather plump Roman demigod and a girl from the Apollo cabin whom had earned the nickname "talk-a-lot" for a reason. Yup, she had been subject to tales from the girl's grandmother all the way to ones about her feet, all while seated rather uncomfortably in what can only be described as a "squeeze".

As her thoughts converged upon Jason once more, she felt a weird tingling sensation run down her spine. Like electricity, gently tingling her insides. She soon decided that she would not be able to get anymore sleep, even if she were to try and that it was about time for her to go hunting for the boy who seemed to be causing these feelings to well up inside her.

Rome in the wee morning only reminded Piper of a ghost town. The streets seemed devoid of any life apart from the occasional satyr scampering about. She gazed wistfully at the flying ship still hanging by the two hooks that served as its balance, stressing against the cold exterior of the buildings upon which it was anchored. Piper hadn't even the slightest clue as to where she should begin looking for Jason. In truth, he could have been anywhere at camp. Of course, Piper wasn't helping her chances of finding him with her lack of knowledge about the camp. In fact, the only place she knew the location of was the hospital and that too only because she had spent almost the entirety of yesterday there. She was determined to find him however, and continued her search rather aimlessly. As fate would have it however, her search ended only in vain. She was nearly about to give in and head back when she realised that, by chance, she had wound up at the entrance of the hospital. Thinking that this was a premier opportunity to catch up with Leo and Annabeth, she decided to enter the hospital, secretly hoping she would find Jason there.

As she walked through the majestic double doors that led to the hospital's foyer, her gaze fell upon the rather comical sight of the receptionist, whom happening to be crouched over the counter, her head resting upon it. The silent snores and rhythmic rising and falling of her chest gave away the fact that she was in quite a deep sleep. Piper grinned as she was quite happy for the chance to avoid yet another person whom she really didn't want to talk to. However, she took advantage of the situation and ran toward the counter to glance a quick look over the room log that depicted the room in which each patient was housed. Once she had found what she had been looking for, she made up her mind to visit Leo first on the basis that it were more likely Jason was there than with Annabeth. Of course, the likelihood that he would be in the hospital at all was rather slim

As she made her way through a rather dim hallway, through the tiled floors and high ceiling, she began to feel a rather odd sense of unease. Shrugging it off, she continued on her way, passing room after room of injured demigods. For some reason, she had begun to sweat, perspiration dripping from her forehead. This seemed quite out of place, after all the hospital _was_ chilly. As she kept moving, nearing Leo's room, her conditioned worsened. Her skin began turning a worrisome shade of white and her head was throbbing in pain. Her mind was yelling at her to stop and rest but it seemed her body was quite keen on disobeying her mind's orders. She soon began to feel nauseous and queasy but her legs were not allowing her any respite. She started to speed up, a quick walk soon turning into a flat out sprint. Her thoughts had become jumbled and her seemed to spin like a washing machine. She no longer had any control over her body and could only watch as she fell to the ground, dazed and confused, creating a rather loud thud in the process.

She lay on the ground helpless. The only sounds she were aware of were that of her own breathing. She lay there rather serenely, her vision turning black. Somewhere towards her left, down the hallway, she heard a scuffling sound followed by rather heavy, constant footsteps. Then a voice boomed out; it seemed a hundred times more torturous than it should have been, "What the...Piper! What in the world." Somewhere in the deeper, darker trenches of her mind she connected that voice with one she was more than familiar with, Jason. With that, her whole world was consumed by black.

No, not quite. There was something else besides the pitch black, the darkness. A sound, no, a song. A rock song? Whatever it was, it was certainly getting louder. No, it was getting fainter. No, now it was louder again. Fainter, louder, fainter, louder; almost as if someone were playing with the dial of an old-fashioned radio. "Hey! Stop it, can't you see you're spookin' the kid!" whispered a feminine voice, shrilly. The voice seemed to have no origin, merely magnitude. "But Martha! It's _Paint it Black_! It's like the greatest rock song ever! Plus, its only fitting. After all, the room's black, black is a colour, the song's about black stuff; it only seems right!" replied a whiny voice, which again seemed to emanate from nowhere in particular. If Piper was not already scared out of her wits, she certainly became so when a third voice spoke, "Cut out this funny business you two or there isn't going to be any mice for dinner. Can't you see we have a guest; you must mind your manners". The voice sounded foreign, yet ever so local, like one whom has traveled the world but is yet to find a true home.

As Piper raised herself to a seated position, she realised that she could just see a faint light at the far corner of the room in the shape of a man. As she watched the figure became dimmer and dimmer, eventually losing its glow; revealing a startling figure in its place. A man, built strong and wearing a nike tracksuit now occupied that space. Piper figured that she must have been going nuts. After all, if blacking out and hearing voices weren't enough here _emerged _a man whom she had never seen before wearing what Piper could only describe as flying shoes, a fact that she had just realised. _Then_, she heard the hissing. Following the sound, her eyes fell upon what seemed to be a pair of snakes, tightly entwined around a staff of sorts that he had clenched in his right fist. Piper had a faint feeling that she knew this guy from somewhere, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it.

Her thoughts though, were interrupted when the man spoke, "Ahhh, Piper Mclean, how nice it is to finally meet you, I'm rather sorry about the whole "black-out" thing but it is definitely very necessary. In truth, am normally not one to abandon pleasantries, however in this case we must. I do not have much time you see and I need to tell of something important, something _very_ important," he blurted out, seemingly in a rush. Piper had no time to interject as he carried on, "Piper, I must however start at the very least begin with introductions. As you may have undoubtedly figured out by now, I _am _a god. In fact, I am Hermes, god of travelers, thieves, roads, messengers etcetera. Surely you have met my sons Connor and Travis and I must have you know that I am usually much more lighthearted than now. I apologize for that and I hope you can excuse my bluntness. Anyways, that was rather unnecessary banter, I must get to my point," he paused here to take a breath and continued on, quite erratic, "You see Piper, oh I'm sure you do, we gods have a mighty big problem and you demigods have a mighty big problem too. You know you must venture on a quest to seal the doors of death, yet neither you nor your friends have any direction. Of course you already know you need seven demigods and that the doors are in Rome, but of course, by direction I do not mean those petty clues," he paused again drawing breath once more.

This time at least Piper had time to think over what her had just said. Or perhaps the appropriate phrase would have been to attempt to even remotely comprehend what he had just said. _The Doors of Death, Rome, _what in the world was he talking about. All she knew was that seven demigods, Greek _and_ Roman, were supposed to venture to Olympus and convince the Gods to help them fight Gaea. Before she could mull over her thoughts anymore though, Hermes plowed on, "Ahhh, the direction I am referring to can only be fulfilled by the means of a prophecy. Seeing as to how you demigods have failed to come up with one as of now, our resident Prophet on Olympus has. Yes, that's right, Phoebes Apollo, my cousin, wrote this last night when it "_came to him_". Alas he is too "_busy"_ to present it to you himself so naturally, he sent me," he said this last part rather sarcastically, his voice seemingly also filled with anger. Piper could barely follow along at all and all she registered was something about a prophecy and Apollo.

"Well here goes nothing, you had better pay attention;

_To the land of the twins seven shall go_

_To meet yet their greatest foe_

_The Doors await, Death in tow_

_Yes, and one shall be on Death's row_

_Wisdom's daughter walks alone_

_The Mark of Athena burns through Rome_

_A heedless choice must be made; in haste_

_To go forth or consider thine efforts in waste"_

he finished, with a rather grim look upon his face. For the first time it seemed words had failed him. Piper was bursting with a million questions but she took time to soak in what she had just heard. _Death's row, Efforts in waste, _what could they possibly mean. As she came to the conclusion that she had absolutely no clue as to what she had just been told, Hermes piped in again, "There you have it Piper Mclean, I must leave now, I have much to tend to," he muttered. His entire demeanor seemed to have changed, he seemed pained; genuinely distraught at what he had just told her. "Do not worry, you will not forget the prophecy," he sighed, "I can only wish you the best of luck and may the gods be with you," he ended. Piper thought she saw a tear fall from his eyes just before she had to turn away as he glowed hot white and turned into his true godly form. She heard a loud pop followed by a significant rise in the temperature. She felt the black engulf her once more as her head spun out of control and she collapsed upon a cold, hard surface...

* * *

Hope you guys liked this chapter... Tune in next time for a rather bummed out Jason... Oh and as always all good, bad and even ugly reviews are more than welcome...


	6. Chapter 5 Fallout

Hey guys keep those reviews coming. I'm not threatening or anything but as much as I do enjoy writing, it would be awesome if you guys could review my story. I would really appreciate it. So show some love! Anyways today"s chapter is just a little filler but it is rather comical, I suppose...

* * *

Jason had been having a perfectly nice day. That's right, "_had"_ been having a perfectly nice day. Until that is, he heard that shrill shriek. He had just been conversing with Leo, who had been telling him about how he had _totally_ saved the ship when he heard that ominous scream. It seemed to have come from the hallway outside Leo's ward, where they were having their conversation. Of course Jason being Jason was immediately on the alert and jumped to his feet. Before Leo could follow suit, Jason was already running out of the room scanning the hallway. He sensed that something was seriously wrong but he couldn't quite pinpoint exactly what. Turning his gaze he caught something out of the corner of his eye. At the end of the hall lay a girl curled up in a fetal position. She clearly appeared to be in despair, Jason could just make out soft whimpering noises coming from her. As he approached the girl, careful not to alarm her, his eyes laid sight on her face. He nearly dropped dead then and there. The scene could have been straight from a horror movie. The girl's face, no her entire body seemed an eerie shade of white, something you would associate with vampires or ghouls not human beings. That was far from the worst part though, in addition, she seemed to be trembling; shivering, shaking uncontrollably from head to toe. Her eyes were alarmingly all white and they seemed to have been rolled all the way around. But worst of all, the girl was someone Jason knew, actually the girl was someone Jason loved. In fact, the girl was none other than Piper Mclean.

Jason heard retching noises in the background and figured that Leo must have must have just seen Piper too. In truth, he felt like following suit. His mind had gone numb and his body weak. He had no idea what to do but he knew that he needed to do something. Now if only he knew what exactly. Leo certainly wasn't helping, he was still bent over, clearly dazed and Piper wasn't getting any better. In fact she seemed to be getting worse, if that were even possible. With no other go, Jason did the only thing that came to his mind. In one swift motion he knelt down and picked up Piper in his arms, swinging her over his shoulder as he began sprinting back towards Leo's ward. Somewhere in the back of his head he recalled that there wouldn't be any healer on duty for another hour. He just hoped that everything would be alright till then.

As he entered the ward he laid Piper down on what was now Leo's empty bed. She looked no better and Jason had to avert his gaze for fear his breakfast would join Leo's. He hurriedly ran to the water dispenser located in the corner of the room and filled a cup, unsure of exactly what he was going to do with it. As he turned to head back, he saw Leo stumble into the room obviously still reeling. But he had no time to care about him right now, Jason himself had bigger problems. Like what he was going to do with his comatose girlfriend who was shaking all over like a jitterbug on steroids. As he reached the bed, he decided to at least attempt to wake her. Alas, before he could do anything the cup of water that was in his hand was violently yanked away from him. As he turned around to find the source of the incident, he saw Leo, who himself looked the worse for wear. Before Jason could react however, Leo promptly proceeded to splash the water on Piper's face. "What the hell, Leo!" yelled Jason but Leo didn't stop there. Throwing the empty cup away he immediately slapped Piper full on the cheek. Jason was shocked, lost for words he began to look back and forth from Leo to Piper. Then he heard a cough and as his focus returned to Piper, he saw her sputter and groan. Her eyes were back to normal and the colour of her skin was no longer its previous shade. "Piper, Piper are you alright?" Jason begged hoping that she was. "Jason, is that you?" squeaked Piper clearly trying to clear her thoughts. Jason was ecstatic; relieved that no major harm had befallen his best friend. Honestly, he had no idea what he would have done if something had happened to her.

As all these thoughts passed through his mind, Piper began slowly recovering from her ordeal. She had managed to prop herself up on the bed and she looked much better but still weary. Very weary. Jason thought that she looked like she could use a hug although he kept those words to himself. Piper was just content to catch her breath and take stock of her surroundings while Leo was just leaning against the wall staring at the ground. A while passed like this, the three of them each regaining their composure, not wanting to be the first to break the silence. Leo was first to speak, "Piper girl, you got me to thank for savin' your life you know..." attempting a crack at a joke. Ignoring him Piper started, "Guys, I think I just had a vision". For the second time that day, Jason was at a loss for words, so he said the only thing that came to mind, "What the hell, Piper!". "Well I think it was a vision, it certainly wasn't a dream..." said Piper trailing off. Leo was the first to respond, "Well what did you see?" He remarked rather calmly. Behaviour which was quite "unLeoesque"of him. "Well...," Piper proceeded to tell them about her vision, about how she had met Hermes and about the dire prophecy he had delivered. She recounted the lines a few times at their insistence, and like Hermes had told her she had no problems remembering it. When Jason heard the prophecy a chill crept down his spine and an obvious sense of deja-vu filled his body. He had already heard part of this prophecy before, last night at dinner. But he decided to remain quiet soaking up the new information. He wasn't ready to tell his friends what had happened last night yet.

The silence lasted shorter this time, Leo again was the first to speak, as he opted to utter a few choice swear words. He followed it up by stating "Rome? Doors of Death? What in the world is he talking about. Is it just me or does anyone else think that Hermes is high on something?". "Leo, I'm totally with you, I have no idea what he was talking about! Jason, what about you?" questioned Piper. Jason fell silent; unresponsive. "Jason?" she asked again. Again no response. "Jason, you know something don't you?". This time Jason nodded his head slowly; still unspeaking. "Well, what do you know?" queried Piper, visibly frustrated. Yet again Jason offered no reply. In fact, Jason's mind was a whir, a blaze of thoughts, he needed help to make sense of it all. At least he knew who could help him. Someone he had never even seen before yesterday. A boy with sea green eyes and dark hair. And so when he finally spoke he said, "Come on guys there is someone I want you to meet, there are things we need to discuss.". "Jason I'm not moving a foot till you tell me what's going on," retorted Piper, a little angry. "Let's just say we're going to meet one Percy Jackson, son of Neptune..." Ended Jason, as he headed out the door...

* * *

Tune in next time for Percy Jackson... And Please Review! Any good, bad or ugly reviews are more than welcome!


End file.
